February 15, 2001

7:00 Arrival and greetings (Time for bantering)

7:15 Check-in 

7:25 Assignments for the evening (Bookmark this page for quick reference.)

The Discussion Groups

Below are the six groups for the evening with assigned facilitators next to selected names. Discussions will be held in the rooms indicated. Facilitators will need to make sure there are taskmaster/timekeepers and recorder/posters for the groups.

 The Agenda

For those of you who bought this reference book, refer to pgs. 543-544 in Research in Education, McMillan and Schumacher, for definitions of formative and summative evaluations. Otherwise, we will define these meanings in TI.

7:25 - 8:30 - Discuss the statements presented from Critical Issues in Evaluating the Effectiveness of Technology.  Support or reject the statements with reasons and examples.

8:30 Break

8:45 - Post your group summaries to the Phorum.  Just click on this link to go to the Staff Development thread. Label your post with your facilitator's name.

8:50 - Read the six summaries.  Each person must respond to one other group's summary in a paragraph.  

9:30 - Wrap-up session

Red Room

Yvonne- Leader

  • Christie
  • Joe
  • RJ

"...social phenomena such as learning contain so many interacting factors that traditional experimental designs don't yield effective information." Critical Issues in Evaluating the Effectiveness of Technology (p. 2)

Birch Room

Chris C.- Leader

  • Ryan
  • Henry
  • Jack
 "Ultimately, the issue is about involving the key stakeholders, identifying appropriate measurable indicators, and developing reliable instruments that will yield insightful and valid information about what makes educational technology effective." (p. 3)

Blue Room

 

Kathryn- Leader

  • Matt
  • Gerald
 "The problem is not so much the lack of data. The controversy revolves around accountability measures that ask the right evaluation questions; identify appropriate data sources; systemically capture the data; and analyze, interpret, and report the data in its appropriate context." (p. 4)

Yellow Room

 

Andrew- Leader

  • Doug
  • Diana
 "While applauding the media's role in informing the public about technology, educators charged that its interest in profiling technology growth and use "in one chart on one page" shortchanges the diversity of outcomes that technology produces. Participants suggested that the best way to encourage more comprehensive portrayals of school technology programs in the media is to link technology outcomes to goals that are deeply embedded in the mission and culture of the school." (p. 6)

Green Room

Chris W. - Leader

  • Kim
  • Ashleigh
  • Kevin
 "There is a need to develop additional evaluation tools that can help measure whether students are learning the "new basics" such as computer literacy, collaborative teamwork skills, and lifelong learning abilities." (p. 6)

Oak Room

 

Roberta- Leader

  • Kay
  • Emily
 "Technology has revolutionalized what teachers do. It has added new breadth and depth to instruction. This, in turn, has transformed the role of the classroom teacher." (p. 7)

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